Two New Online Courses with Dr. Blanning are starting this Fall:

New Round: Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs in Children

an online course for Waldorf teachers, anthroposophic physicians and therapists

A new two-year course will run from October 2024 to March 2026!

The Fall 2022-Spring 2024 course included participants from Eastern and Western Europe, North America, Australia/NZ and Asia. To continue to be able to embrace an international community, the new two-year round of the course will again offer two parallel monthly teaching times (same material taught twice):

  • Tuesdays 10:30am U.S. Mountain time (evening in Europe/Africa)

  • Fridays 4:30pm U.S. Mountain (Saturday morning in Australia/Asia)

This set of online sessions, designed for Waldorf school teachers and anthroposophic therapists and doctors, will draw from Dr. Blanning’s book, Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs. These online workshops assume that participants already have foundational knowledge of anthroposophic concepts and vocabulary (it is not intended as an introductory course). The course has developed out of specific requests from groups of teachers in many countries who have been working closely with the material.

The main focus of the course is developing greater capacities for child observation while also learning about important developmental patterns and rhythms of childhood. It provides a pathway understanding and providing practical support for the children we work with in the world.

Topics include:

Year One

Session 1(October 2024): The Fourfoldness of the Human Being

Session 2 (November 2024): Observing the Incarnation Process through Movement

Session 3 (December 2024): Morality as an expression of the earthly and cosmic polarity

Session 4 (January 2025): The Inner Sensory Path for Self-Soothing

Session 5 (February 2025): Learning Styles—the “Large-headed” and “Small-headed” Polarity

Session Six (March 2025): Ripeness of development—Observing First grade readiness

Year Two

Session 7 (October 2025): Epileptic Constitution

Session 8 (November 2025): Hysteric Constitution

Session 9 (December 2025): Aggressive Behaviors

Session 10 (January 2026): Patterns of Memory

Session 11 (February 2026): Biographical Rhythms of Childhood

Session 12 (March 2026): Gifts and Challenges of the Constitutions

Planned meeting dates for 2024-2025 (please note, schedule subject to change, though we hope that won’t be necessary):

  • Tuesdays 10:30am (more for those in the Americas, Europe, Africa):

    Oct. 15, Nov. 12, Dec. 17 (2024), Jan. 14, Feb. 18, March 11 (2025)

  • Fridays 4:30pm (for those in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, Asia):

    Oct. 11/12, Nov. 15/16, Dec. 13/14, (2024), Jan. 17/18, Feb. 21/22, March 14/15 (2025)

Tuition: Tuition for the course is $155, which covers all six sessions in the first year (October to March). We wish for this course to be available to as many people as possible, so a discounted tuition ($120) is available using the code “UDDN-DISCOUNT”. We also recognize that income levels and economics vary widely, especially in different countries and continents, so a hardship/solidarity tuition ($85) is available using the code “UDDN-HARDSHIP". If these levels are still not accessible to you or if you have a larger faculty group that would like to participate, email us and we will see what is possible.

Registration is now closed and the course is full.

If you would like to receive notices about future courses, please sign up for the medical practice newsletter at the bottom of our HOMEPAGE.

New Course: Understanding Deeper Needs in the Classroom

This course complements and further develops the material taught in Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs in Children. Rather than starting with constitutional pictures, we will instead make our starting point common classroom challenges. How can we develop a differentiated view of the needs that stand behind challenging behaviors?

Knowledge of the constitutional polarities—either from your own work reading the book or having participated in the online course—will be very helpful, though not required.

Two sessions will be devoted to each theme, with participants encouraged and expected to really do careful observation of the children you work with. How can we collectively research children’s needs and bring practical tools to help them better thrive in the classroom setting.

Schedule: Tuesdays 10:30am U..S. Mountain Time (more for those in the Americas, Europe, Africa): Fridays 4:30pm U.S. Mountain time (for those in the Americas, Australia, Asia)—the same material will be taught twice as the live discussion is very important!

The Child Who Will Not Participate

Approaching the Behavior: Tuesday, October 29 and Friday, November 1 (Saturday November 2), 2024

Supporting the Need: Tuesday, December 3 and Friday, November 22 (Saturday November 23), 2024—Please note the new Friday/Saturday date, which had to be moved because of Dr. Blanning’s changed travel schedule.

The Child Who Always Disrupts

Approaching the Behavior: Tuesday, February 25 and Friday, February 28 (Saturday March 1), 2025

Supporting the Need: Tuesday, March 25 and Friday, March 28 (Saturday March 29), 2025

All sessions will be recorded and made available to participants, though each meeting includes time for small group discussion (one of the best parts of working together in community!), so we hope people will take part in the live discussions as much as possible.

Tuition: Regular Tuition for the course is $105. We wish for this course to be available to as many people as possible, so a discounted tuition ($85) is available using the code “CLASSNEED-REDUCE”. We also recognize that income levels and economics vary widely, especially in different countries and continents, so a hardship/solidarity tuition ($65) is available using the code “CLASSNEED-HARD". If these levels are still not accessible to you or if you have a larger faculty group that would like to participate, email us and we will see what is possible.

To register:

Registration is now open on the APPOINTMENTS page. First scroll down to the section for “Educational Offerings”, then:

  • Choose whether you wish to participate in either the Tuesday morning group (recommended for Europe and Africa) or the Friday afternoon/Saturday morning group (recommended for Hawaii, NZ, Australia and Asia). If you are in North, South, or Central America, you are welcome to register for either group. Keep in mind there are both “Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs” and “Understanding Deeper Needs in the Classroom” courses, so make sure you register for the right course. They require separate registrations.

  • Click on the “Book” button next to the course you are choosing

  • Then click on the box with the Denver time for the course (which includes the number of spots left), then click again on “Select and Continue”

  • You will then be asked for your name and email, also your coupon code if you are requesting a discount

  • The registration program will then collect payment information for the course

Each session will be recorded in case you are scheduling conflicts. Experience shows that being able to participate in the live conversation and small group discussions is very worthwhile.

If you have a special situation or would like to arrange registration for a whole group, send us a message HERE.

Nurturing the Roots: A Three-Year Advanced Therapeutic Course
for Early Childhood Educators

with Nancy Blanning, Laurie Clark,
Dr. Adam Blanning and other guest faculty

July 2025-July 2027 • Denver, Colorado

We are planning to offer a new round of the course, beginning July 6-11, 2025 in Denver, CO. Registration will open in January 2025.

If you would like to notified when registration opens, please let us know.

Overview:

There are many children in the classroom today who are calling for our extra consciousness and guidance. Their incarnation process is challenged. This may be expressed as disruption, aggression, or strong sensory-seeking behaviors, but is really an expression of how difficult it is for them to find a comfortable home in the body, or a harmonious interaction with the world around them. This course is designed to provide both practical tools for pedagogical and developmental assessment of the individual child, and provide the necessary supports in order to meet the child’s needs. The course will work through the important milestones of physical development and will examine the changing spiritual physiology of the child from pre-earthly experiences through age nine.

This course is designed as an advanced professional development experience for experienced Waldorf early childhood education teachers. The course comprises three week-long July summer conferences (Sunday evening through Friday noon), complemented by two January four-and-a-half day workshops (Thursday evening through Monday noon). The summer weeks will be devoted to instruction in child observation, hygienic circle movement, constitutional polarities, and developmental assessments for the kindergarten, first grade and second grade child.

The winter workshops will focus more on practical implementation of these topics in the classroom setting.

A letter of application is required for admission to the program and a certificate of completion will be given at the conclusion of the full course. Those working for the certificate will have homework to complete in child observation and study, movement work, classroom plans, and plans for individual children.

Tuition is estimated to be $675 for summer July sessions (2025, 2026, 2027), $575 for winter January sessions (2026, 2027). Full details will be available starting in January.

Course Curriculum:

Year One (July 2022): Where did my ‘I’ begin?—Pre-earthly Experience and Descent into Life

The first year curriculum will explore the journey of embryologic development from pre-birth decisions and development, through the birth passage, and into the great deeds of walking, speaking, and thinking as a foundation for health during the first three years of life. We will look at how the inherited body is transformed, and how that progress is expressed through polarities of movement. Play-based sensory developmental screening of the 4-5½ year-old child will be explored.

Year Two (January and July 2023): My Body, My Home

The second and third sessions focus on the ripening of the etheric body and the formation of the organs, and how this manifests in the kindergarten child. The proper balancing of organic growth and wakeful sensing as a foundational experience for the child will be explored through the constitutional polarities, including the Large-headed/Small-headed polarity. We will explore the maturation of the foundation senses (touch, movement, balance and life). Assessment of first grade readiness, informed by a knowledge of sensory and perceptual development, the integration of movement, auditory capacities, and vision screening will be taught.

Year Three (Jan. and July 2024): Waking to the World Around

For the seven to nine-year old child, incarnation evolves from a primary process of bodily growth to exploration of the world. The child has to learn how to breathe through the body, moving from point to periphery, from self to world. Observing how the young child socially interacts and participates in group activities will help us build an understanding of the waking and sleeping activity of the Epileptic and Hysteric polarity. We will examine this breathing process on the levels of wakeful sensing, temperament, and movement patterns. The third year will also include practical instruction in second grade developmental assessment.

January meetings will generally be held over the MLK holiday weekend, and July 2023 and 2024 sessions the week following the 4th of July holiday. We will confirm exact dates at the start of the course.

Goals:

At the conclusion of the course, each teacher will be prepared to:

  • Bring health-developing/salutogenic movement enrichment to the early childhood classroom and outdoor play and activities. This will be through circle work, movement journeys, practical work, games and outside play opportunities.

  • Select specific movement experiences that will serve individual children.

  • Expand and refine child observation and child study skills by developing a “therapeutic eye”

  • Have a framework for developing a therapeutic/care circle within one’s school, coupled with learning which mainstream resources can be helpful to the children.

  • Administer developmental assessments kindergarten through 2nd grade

Costs:
Course fees are $575 for the summer meetings and $475 for the winter workshops. Course fees includes tuition, materials and mid-morning and afternoon snacks. There is a non-refundable $100 deposit that must be submitted with your registration for the July 2022 session–this will be applied to your tuition for the fifth and final session in July 2024.

Registration: is now closed. If you are interested in participating in future Nurturing the Roots offerings, contact us and let us know.